A Sight Best Left Unseen
by Sheankelor
Summary: An alarm sounded and Albus had to run to the rescue. Severus was grateful, but had a few questions before Poppy arrived. One was: " What happened to his clothes?" Not slash; Takes place any time between the wars. Rated "T" due to the state of dress.


_AN: This is not beta-ed (ed: late 7/28 Yen, thanks for the fast bets job) and was written due to an bunny that ran rampant in a conversation this morning. Yes, ladio, I actually wrote it. Enjoy!_

_Please note that these two are **just** friends.  
_

_If you note an error that is driving you crazy, please PM me and I will either explain or change. ^-^  
_

_Ree_

_A Sight Best Left Unseen_

Albus felt his heart stop as the alarm he never wanted to hear resounded throughout his office. Jumping to his feet, he ran as fast as he could to the dungeons, only stopping outside of his Potions Master's classroom door.

The seal on the door increased his anxiety. It took him barely a moment to break it and rush headlong into the room. A green-tinged smoky haze covered the room. A quick Bubble-Head charm later, he spotted a group of students trapped in a larger version of the same type spell. They were pushed against the wall, looking shaken and scared.

"Are there any of you hurt?" Albus' mind was screaming at him to find Severus, but he knew the boy would demand to know if his students were safe.

"No, Headmaster. The Professor though..."

"Good. Mr. Malt please make sure that the entire class makes it up to the Infirmary. I am going to remove the spell over you. As soon as I do, quickly make your way out the door."

A wave of Albus' wand broke the protection spell, and he made sure that all the students were out the door before he resealed it. Now he could find Severus.

There, laying on the floor and covered in a putrid green bubbling mess, was his Potions Professor. Wrapping his arms under Severus's armpits, Albus pulled him out of the toxic fumes and into the attached office. Sealing the door behind him, he cancelled his Bubble-Head charm.

"Severus, can you hear me?" Albus patted the pale face urgently, searching for any signs of consciousness. Then he noticed that the potion had already eaten away most of Severus' robe and was starting on his clothes. Banishing the destroyed garments, he levitated the now naked Potions Master on to a newly transfigured sofa.

Throwing a small pinch of floo powder into the fireplace, he knelt down before it and stuck his head into the green flames. "Infirmary, Madam Pomfrey!"

"Headmaster, is everything all right?" Poppy's voice floated through the fire connection, but her head wasn't visible.

"Did a group of third years make it there?" Albus waited to see if she would appear in the flames.

"Yes, they just did. The ones I have checked so far are shaken up, but that is all."

"Good. When you have finished checking the children, please come to Professor Snape's office." He did his best to keep his tone calm, the last thing he needed was the children to panic.

"Of course, Headmaster."

Poppy's tone told Albus that she knew how urgent the situation really was. It was as he was pushing himself up off the hearth that he noticed the green potion on his own robes, eating through the material at a fairly rapid rate, and on the bottom of his beard. Banishing his robes to the same place that Severus' was, he looked at his beard and sighed.

"It will grow back, Albus," he told himself and used a slicing charm to cut off the ends, banishing the pieces as they floated to the ground. A low groan had him returning quickly to the sofa.

Severus opened his eyes slowly. His head was pounding and he felt bruised from his shoulders to knees. The sight that greeted his eyes made him wish that they had remained closed. "Albus." He stopped for a moment to combat the pain washing through him. "Albus - why are you only wearing your socks and shoes?"

"My dear boy, you are awake." Albus beamed happily at the man whose eyes had snapped back shut.

"Yes, I am awake. Why are you here naked? And just where are we?"

When Severus opened his eyes again, he made sure to focus on the Headmaster's face.

"We are in your office. Do you remember what happened a few moment ago?" Albus searched Severus' face, looking for any sign of recollection.

"Miss Barret's potion took a turn for the worse. I was able to secure the students behind a shield spell just as the mess exploded. I think some of it hit me, and I remember falling to the floor. I vaguely recall sealing the room." Concern rushed across Severus' face, plain to see if you knew what to look for.

"Good, you do remember. I came as soon as the alarm sounded in my office. I unsealed the door and sent the children to the Infirmary. They were a bit shaken, but other than that, fine. I then replaced the seal and pulled you inside your office. You are going to have to use a different room until you have a chance to neutralize the potion and the toxic air in your classroom."

Severus waited a moment for Albus to continue. It became evident that he wasn't. ""You still haven't explained why you are practically naked in my office."

Albus knew that Severus had to have hit his head hard not to have figured it out yet. "When I dragged you here, the potion that was eating away at your robes got onto mine. So, I had to banish them as well."

It was at that moment that Severus realized that he too was completely naked.

"I even had to cut some of my beard." Albus' mournful statement was overridden by Severus' near shout.

"Albus! Clothes! Robes! Something... where is my wand?" Severus looked right and left, ignoring the pain it caused, trying to kept his tone level and not to give away the panic running through him.

"No need to panic, my dear boy." Albus waved towards the desk. "You wand is on your desk. I have asked a house elf to bring me some clothes."

Relief tumbled over the panic roiling inside Severus, his wand was okay. "Albus..."

Albus continued as if Severus had not spoken "They should be here soon."

"Albus, I am naked." Severus tried not to stare at his bare feet where they rested slightly elevated on the sofa's arm.

Albus walked over to a shelf to examine the jars that were on it, much too unconcerned about his state of undress for Severus' comfort.

"Yes, of course you are, Severus. You were far more covered with the potion than I was. I couldn't leave you to be burned by a potion that was able to eat through your master robes."

"Albus-" Severus tried to interrupt.

"They had spells woven through them to stop something like that happening, and"

"Albus-" Severus tried again.

"I do not wish to see what it would have done to your skin."

Severus fought to maintain a calm tone, but he had never liked being ignored. "Albus-"

"You are fortunate that none landed on your hands and face."

Albus!" Severus lost the battle with patience, never his strong suit.

"Yes?" Albus turned at last to face the reclining man, his eyes twinkling.

"Please transfigure me a blanket or hand me my wand. The potion was not on my face and hands because Potion Masters are trained to use their robes to cover all exposed skin during an explosion." Severus was glad to finally get a word in edgewise. "And Albus-"

"Oh! You are trained in that? How long does it take?" Albus changed a quill that he found on Severus' desk into a light blanket and laid it over the pale man.

"Albus-"

"Was it a hard thing to learn?"

"No, it wasn't. Did you request the house elf to also bring me new clothes as well?" Severus sank onto the sofa, happy that he was finally covered and had asked his first question.

"Of course, my dear boy. Poppy is also on her way here to check you out." Albus patted Severus arm lightly.

"How long ago did you ask the elf?" Severus was sure that the elf should be back already.

"Missy expressed a bit of trepidation about entering your quarters, so she was looking for an elf that would do so." Albus transfigured one of the straight back chairs into a squishy armchair and settled into it.

Severus bit back an exasperated sigh and pulled the soft blanket higher.

"You could transfigure us both a set of robes," he hinted.

"But they won't be as comfortable as your own." Albus tried not to sound as if he was talking to a petulant child, but he wasn't sure he succeeded. "Besides, I don't think you would want to wear anything flowered."

Severus lightly glared at Albus. "Yes, but they will at least cover us if Poppy makes it here before Missy."

A pop ended the conversation. "Here is Headmaster's and Professor's clothes."

"Thank you, Missy." Albus took the offered bundles from the elf who disappeared the moment the clothes were taken from her. "Severus, can you move enough to dress?"

Garnering his strength, Severus pushed himself up on the sofa. "Yes."

"Here you go, my boy," Albus set a bundle of clothes on the edge of the sofa before dressing.

With trembling limbs, Severus threw off the blanket and got dressed in his shirt and trousers and then settled back under the blanket. At that moment, Poppy burst through his office door.

Closing his eyes, he let the feeling of relief course through him. They were dressed just in time.


End file.
